Everybody Makes Mistakes
by Caskett4Life
Summary: AU for 2x24... I really liked Tom and I wanted to write another ending in which he is a super-good guy and (hopefully) everyone likes him :D Be nice, review, follow, favorite!
1. Chapter 1

**Everybody makes mistakes**

Chapter 1: Truth

Detective Kate Beckett stared after the infamous Richard Castle and his ex-wife number two, still not quite believing what it was that had just happened. Never before had she experienced something like this. Usually, she got what she wanted, especially when it came to men, but with Castle, it was different – then again everything was different about Richard Castle. She had broken up with her boyfriend for another guy and she secretly cursed herself for not realizing her feelings sooner, before she had to drag someone along and potentially hurt them. Tom was a nice guy and probably, when he got his head around what had happened, a good friend, but nothing more. Castle really was different and looking back she knew she shouldn't have kissed Tom that day. Of course, he would have had to see them.

Remembering that moment, suddenly, she realized something. Tom had told her that he'd seen Castle watching them – yet why was it then that he had continued kissing her? He knew Castle liked her, it seemed that everyone except her had done, - and he probably also knew she liked Castle - and that it would really hurt Castle having to see them. And so, being the detective she was, she had to find out why he did that. Just for revenge? However a feeling told her that wasn't the full story.

The door to her left opened but she was already determined and well on her way. She didn't even hear Lanie calling after her, instead she just went straight to robbery. Tom was still sat there and looked up in surprise when he saw her coming. "Kate! What are you doing here?" He questioned, looking up at her since she was taller than he due to her being stood and him being sat down.

"Stop it. I need to ask you something." She stated, boldly. Tom nodded and pointed to the chair next to his desk but she refused to sit.

"I'm listening, Kate", he said, secretly hoping she was going to say she had made a mistake and she wanted them to get back together.

"That day we kissed here at the precinct, did you do it just because you knew Castle was watching?" Tom opened and closed his mouth and then looked down, avoiding her gaze in the way a child does why they are trying not to lie.

Kate gasped in horror. "Oh my god, it's true!" She almost choked out.

"Kate, wait, I can explain…"

"No way. You don't get to explain yourself because this is just… I don't even know how to describe it! You knew he liked me and did it on purpose so it would hurt him! And now, I've probably lost him forever!" She said, keeping her detective armor on as not to let her emotions overrun her

"What do you mean, lost him forever?" He questioned, confusion hazing his mind.

"That's none of your business anymore, Tom!" Kate turned around to leave because she already felt some tears coming. Of course, Tom ran after her and grabbed her arm, hoping to stop her from leaving.

"Kate, please tell me. What happened?"

Kate took a deep breath, not knowing why she should tell him, but wanting to get it off of her chest all the same. "His ex-wife showed up and picked him up. They're going to the Hamptons together so he can finish his book and she can have some fun with him!" Beckett had to fight to keep the bitterness from her tone as she spoke.

"No, that can't be true." Tom suddenly looked serious.

"No? Then how do you explain it? He left with her, arm in arm, and she told me she'd come with him to, and I quote, 'Stay on top of him while he finishes his book'" Kate tried to free herself but Tom refused let go and started rambling.

"It can't be, that's not what… It was only… No… She…"

Kate looked up. "She?"

Tom didn't even listen. "I didn't want that! I swear! It wasn't supposed to be like this!"

Kate grabbed Tom's arms and looked him in the eyes, trying to get him to stop rambling and tell her straight what was going on.

"Tom! You will tell me exactly what happened!" Kate demanded as her brain began to formulate a horrible series of events.

As he didn't even react, she dragged him up to homicide and into one of the interrogation boxes. She knew that Ryan, Esposito, Lanie and probably even Captain Montgomery would be listening but she didn't care. She sat down opposite Tom, giving him her You-better-not-be-messing-with-me-look. "Now. I'm listening. Tell me exactly what happened!"

Tom looked embarrassed and his cheeks began to flush. "Look, I know Gina. I solved a robbery for her in 2006. She probably remembered me, because a couple of weeks ago, she called me and said something had been stolen. I agreed to meet her in her office."

"Let me guess," Kate interrupted. "Nothing had been stolen."

"Well", Tom continued, "She claims she has lost her best-selling author. Apparently he hasn't written much lately and she needs to have his new manuscript by the end of the summer. She told me he's spending too much time at the 12th and, I also quote, 'he's running after this cop who will never ever let him have her'. She told me she'd need my help." By this point he was avoiding eye contact with the homicide detective.

"Help doing what exactly?" Kate asked, already guessing the answer.

"Help her get the two of you separated. You're his distraction and she said if you were dating someone, he'd probably get back to his writing."

"What?!" She asked, completely baffled by the revelation.

"She told me what I had to do," Tom continued, ignoring Kate. "And because she said she'd help my boyfriend get a job, I agreed to do it."

"Your…" Kate nearly groaned, _this just keeps getting better and better _she thought to herself.

"Yes, my boyfriend. We've been together for almost three years now but not many people know about us. So you're more than welcome to keep this to yourself." Kate nodded in agreement and made a mental note to tell her friends to do the same. Tom just stared at the floor, waiting for an audible answer.

"I promise," Kate assured him, "But now, I need to know what happened after you agreed to help Gina."

"You know the rest!" Tom looked up. "We met, I tried to make you like me. I kissed you so it would become clear to him. I was actually very relieved when you broke up with me because I thought this meant that you had finally accepted your feelings for Castle."

"It's too late for that now." Kate gave him a sad smile but Tom reached out and took her hand.

"It's not too late, Kate!" he said. "I'm sure she organized this just to get him back so he's been played, too. If you go to him, everything will be fine. I promise. And I'll even come with you to keep Gina away. I've known for a while that she's pretty evil and Henry got a job offer yesterday, so we don't even need her anymore."

"And what if he doesn't want me anymore?" Kate asked. "I lied to him, I hurt him. Why would he accept me?" She added, stating all the things that were running through her mind. Even after what Tom had done, she felt like he wanted to make things better now. And she decided that she already had enough enemies as it was, so there was no point in making any more.

"Because he really loves you! A good thing about being gay is that you definitely know when a man's in love. He is, and he already was before Gina showed up again."

"So now…" Kate stopped. She was still hurt because of what Castle did but if Tom told the truth, she had to do something quickly.

"No we go after your man Kate." Tom stood up and pulled back Kate's chair. She stood up and smiled at him.

"I'd really like to meet that boyfriend of yours."

"I'll talk to Henry and we'll arrange a double date." Tom opened the door and they got out.

Lanie, Esposito and Ryan were all standing at the side of her desk near the chair that was Castle's. Seeing the chair empty made her realize how much she wanted him back, and looking at them she saw them all looking back at her expectantly. Kate rolled her eyes.

"I know you listened so drop the act. I'll see you either after the weekend or in the fall."

She grabbed her coat and went with Tom to her car. Once they got in, Tom searched for Castle's address in the Hamptons to find out where it was that they had to go. Soon, they were out of the madness that was New York City and instead were driving along on a sunny road. The drive was very reasonably quiet, and despite the day's events and Kate enjoyed Tom's company. She actually preferred him now that she knew the truth.

Yet the drive seamed to last forever, and with every passing moment she just got more nervous. When they arrived at the house, Kate gasped. It wasn't just any house, this was more like a mansion! All she could think about was that she had declined his offer to come here, to this… this paradise! But then, she saw Castle's Ferrari standing in the driveway and her courage left her.

"We should leave", she whispered.

Tom shook his head. "No. You go in there and tell him how you feel. You can do this, Kate!"

She sighed, got out and slowly walked to the door while Tom waited at the car, feeling as though it was not his place to be stood next to her when she knocked on the door. After one last assuring nod from him, she finally knocked.

* * *

So... I hope you like this story, I was rewatching 2x24 and I kind of wanted to write another ending...

Huge thanks to fashiongirl97 for being the most awesome beta ever, you made this story even better :D

This is a 3-chapter-fic, I'll update soon!

And, of course, follow, favorite, review!

K xx


	2. Chapter 2

**Everybody Makes Mistakes**

Chapter 2: Forgiveness

Only seconds after she had knocked, the sounds of light footsteps inside the house reached her ears, and only seconds after that the door opened to reveal Gina. "Katherine!" she said surprised, Beckett internally grimaced at the use of that name. "What are you doing here?" she questioned in a tone which seemed almost sickly sweet.

Kate took a deep breath to build up her courage before saying: "I need to talk to Castle."

Gina rolled her eyes dramatically. "Whatever you have to say, I'm sure it can easily wait until after the summer. He's got work to do."

"Actually, it can't wait." Kate said, gaining courage with every single word which left her lips. "It might be too late in the fall."

"Fine," Gina said. "Tell me and I'll talk to him later." Kate realized she should have known it would not be that easy, then out of the blue she heard the sound of quick footsteps behind her and without looking, she knew that Tom had come to help her.

"Hello, Gina!" He said. "Can I have a word?" Gina was startled for a moment and after the years she had spent in the police this detective knew when to make the most of someone not paying attention. So, Kate used this opportunity to get inside the house and snuck past Gina safe in the knowledge Tom would deal with the ex-wife.

When she got to the staircase, she stopped. Where should she look for Castle? This mansion was huge and there were probably about 100 rooms laid out like a maze, she could easily get lost and time was of the essence. She had to think about where the man would be. But before she could even start looking, she heard a noise from upstairs. As silently as possible, she went up the stairs and began to follow the noise until she found that it came out of a room at the end of a hallway. Slowly, she got closer and silently cursed herself when a board squeaked beneath her foot. Instantly, the noise got louder and Castle's voice came out of the room. "Gina? Who was that at the door?" he called out and Kate stopped dead in her tracks.

Would he really want her to be here? Now she was here she did not have a clue what she was going to do or say, she hadn't even got that far planned out in her mind. Yet she didn't have time to think more because there suddenly was a crash from inside the room and she rushed to the open door. The sight which greeted her when she looked into the room was one she'd never forget. Castle was on the floor next to an open closet and piled on top of the writer were two suitcases - both open and partially emptied with clothes seeming as half of them were not on top of him and all around too.

It looked so incredibly funny and Kate couldn't help but laugh. Castle's eyes flew open as he heard a completely different laugh to the one he had been expecting to hear. "Beckett?" he asked and shoved the suitcases and clothes away from him so he could get up. "What are you doing here?" He questioned, confused as to why the detective was stood in his house.

"I need to talk to you" She replied, simply.

He looked hurt, his face almost resembling a child in animation. "Don't you have to be at a nice restaurant with Demming?" His voice had a slight edge of bitterness to it that he could not hind, but she wasn't offended because she knew that she well and truly deserved whatever he wanted to throw at her.

It took her a moment to fathom how exactly it was she was going to tell him that they had broken up. Kate looked away, skillfully avoiding eye contact and instead focusing on the window. "Actually no. I don't -"

"And why not?" He never could let her finish, he always had to interrupt and know every single detail before she had time to explain it. Had things turned out differently in his life she had an inkling that he could have made a damn good detective, if only his theories were a little less fiction and a tad more fact

Kate rolled her eyes but answered him anyway. "We broke up - about ten minutes before you left, actually." Castle stopped, obviously waiting for her to continue talking. Kate took a deep breath and continued to speak, knowing he deserved the truth. "I was going to come here with you. I was going to say yes. I talked to Ryan and Esposito and I realized that Tom just wasn't right for me. I'd refused to see that before and now - I just hope it isn't too late. I've realized that there's only one guy who is right for me. And that is you."

"Then why didn't you tell me earlier?" he asked softly, neither of them even trying to mask the smiles that were transforming their faces.

"I was about to say it when Gina came and… well, I didn't want to disturb anything between you two." She said, letting him draw his own conclusion from her statement.

"Gina and I? Really? Yeah, we get along better right now than I think we ever did when we were married - but I'm not that stupid. I know what she's like – been there, done that, got the alimony to prove it - and I have no plans of getting back together with her!"

"Yeah? Ask her about that. I bet she'll say something different."

"Why are you so sure?" Castle looked a bit confused.

"She planned this! She actually planned everything so you'd go with her." Kate realized she was almost yelling and quickly stopped talking. She didn't want Gina to hear them and she also did not want to sound like some crazed jealous woman either. She mentally thanked god for Tom who had obviously managed to keep her away.

"How do you know this? Because if this just speculation, I'm disappointed in you because you could do much better." Kate hesitated. Should she really reveal Tom's part in all this? But then, not talking about things, hiding things, had never been very good for them in the past. And with what she did every day, she saw enough negative in the world, she didn't want to add any more to it by lying."Tom told me," she finally said and immediately Castle's face went hard.

"Tom?"

"Yes. Gina wanted him to meet me, charm me, trick me into a relationship with him so she could have you. It was all an act. Tom is in no way interested in me and she tricked him too!"

"You can't be sure that he's not interested in you. I don't know if you see it, but there's probably not one guy who wouldn't be."

Kate chuckled and Richard Castle could not help but think he had missed some sort of joke in all of this. "Well, I'm not sure if his boyfriend would approve of him being interested in a woman, but…" She stated, letting her sentence trail off.

"His boyfriend?" Castle asked and Kate almost had to laugh again. His face was the perfect definition of : 'gob smacked'.

"Do you believe me now?" She asked, before slowly moving closer until she could have touched him had she stretched out her hand. "Do you believe me when I'm saying that I'm sorry?"

"Sorry for what? I don't remember you doing anything wrong."

"I'm sorry for not realizing sooner what I feel for you. I'm sorry for going out with Tom because it was easy and not complicated like it is with you. And I'm also sorry for interrupting your vacation." Kate took a step back. "I just came here to tell you this. I'll see you in the fall, okay? Good luck with Nikki." She was about to leave when he reached out and grabbed her hand, successfully holding her back, then he gently pulled her so close to him that she could hear his heartbeat, and feel the rise and fall of his breath as he breathed.

"Do you really thing I'd let you leave?" He asked. "After what you just told me? The only reason I went here with Gina was because I wanted to give you some time aloe with Tom!"

"Why do you think I'd ever want that? He's not my partner!"

Castle shrugged and cupped her face. "Now that you're asking, I have no idea." And then he kissed her like he had wanted to for almost two years. It wasn't an awkward first kiss, more like a We-finally-did-it-kiss or a We-should-have-done-this-ages-ago-kiss. It was slow at first but quickly got more passionate and heated and both were out of breath when they parted.

Kate slowly opened her eyes and was greeted by the most beautiful smile she had ever seen. Shyly, she smiled back. "Kate-" he began but she cut him off.

"Whatever you were going to say, save it and don't ruin this moment. We have plenty of time in the future."

"Actually, I was hoping you would say something," Castle answered with a mischievous grin. "Could you say it? For me?" He asked, looking like a cheeky school boy.

Kate rolled her eyes. "I love you, Writer-Boy." He leaned in to kiss her once more when suddenly, Tom's voice traveled up from downstairs.

"Could the two of you please hurry up? I think I understand why you divorced her, Rick, and I could really use some help here!" Castle looked at Kate - his Kate, if she would allow him to call her that - and she rolled her eyes, again. He gave her a small peck on the lips, a promise for more kisses later, a promise she was definitely going to hold him to.

"Let's go help him, and after that, we're going to have the best summer ever!"

* * *

**Huge thanks to everyone who reviewed, keep doing that, you all make my days!**

**Only one chapter left, this will be a sort of epilogue and then I'll be busy with the Castle ficathon!**

**And, of course, fashiongirl97, thank you again for beta-ing (is that a word? whatever^^), if I could, I'd give you 100 coffees :D**

**K xx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Everybody makes mistakes**

**Epilogue: Forever**

Kate sat impatiently at the Old Haunt and repeatedly glanced at her watch, each time noticing only a few seconds had passed since the last time. After being thrown out of Castle's house in the Hamptons; Gina had been more the blood-sucking publisher than ever before and Kate was certain that she was keeping Castle at this meeting way longer than she actually needed to.

Luckily, Castle had delivered his new Nikki-Heat-novel on time so in that respect at least, Gina couldn't be really mad at them. The only thing she had done was changing the title. Instead of "Dangerous Heat", book stores now sold "Naked Heat". Not exactly Kate's favorite but the sales were good and it had gotten the ex-wife off of their backs a little more. Well, sales were not _just_ good, it sold even better than "Heat Wave" and Castle had been wearing this stupid "I'm-so-awesome"-grin for weeks.

She checked her watch again. Now he was over an hour late. Although stuck at a meeting, he still managed to send her short texts every ten minutes so she didn't have to worry. He understood that she needed this, this reassurance that everything was okay. She hated waiting alone in restaurants.

Suddenly, someone sat down next to her. She turned her head, half-expecting to finally see her boyfriend but she only met a stranger's intense glare. "Hi," he said with a slimy grin.

Kate rolled her eyes.

"I'm waiting for someone already, so you're wasting your time." She stated bluntly, not even bothering to sound pleasant.

"I could wait with you," the guy offered, not even bothering to look her in the eye as he spoke..

"No, thank you." Kate turned away and focused on her drink.

"I'm Josh, by the way. Dr. Josh Davidson." The guy just couldn't let go, could he?

Kate sighed and turned back to him, disgust filling her.

"That's great. But, you see, Josh, I'm taken and I happen to love my boyfriend so very much. So please just leave me alone before I do something stupid." He got it completely wrong - not that Kate had expected otherwise - and slowly moved closer. "And what if I want you to do something stupid?" Kate raised her eyebrows and stared into his eyes. This was really beginning to rub her up the wrong way now. She couldn't help but compare them to Castle's - and the guy clearly didn't stand a chance against him.

"I think you misunderstood me," she said slowly and gently, as if she was talking to a child.

"With 'doing something stupid', I meant something like kicking your incredibly small ass and hurting you where it really hurts. Got it?" Josh's eyes got even darker with lust ad he came so close that Kate could smell his breath - which made her feel even more disgusted than before. "Oh, I wouldn't mind that! Not by you!" His hand was suddenly at her hip and moved down. In a split second, Kate had slipped out of her chair and twisted his hand on his back. Josh winced in pain as she quickly pulled his other hand on his back, too.

"I told you not to do this and now, I can arrest you for harassing a police officer!" She pulled out her cuffs and led Josh out of the restaurant, feeling everyone's eyes on her. Just then, a cab pulled up and Castle emerged. His eyes lit up at the sight of Kate and he quickly walked over and kissed her. "Sorry I'm late."

"That's your guy? Seriously?" Josh suddenly said. Castle looked confused at first but smiled when he saw Josh's cuffed hands.

"Something you want to tell me?" he jokingly asked Kate, quirking an eyebrow. She just winked at him with an evil smirk.

"Oh, nothing really special. Just another guy who won't take 'no' for an answer and ends up arrested."

"Sounds like a fun night!" Castle said. "Did he also try to kiss you like the last one?"

Kate laughed. "No, he didn't even get that far. But I think he'll think twice about groping a woman in the future."

Josh groaned. "Come on! I didn't grope you!"

"You totally did!" A new voice said. Both Kate and Castle turned around and saw a young woman standing behind them. She was dressed up for an outing and looked as though she had just left the restaurant. "I'm sorry to interrupt," she said. "I saw what happened and… well… I was pretty impressed."

Castle smiled proudly and pressed a kiss to Kate's cheek. Kate smiled. "Thank you …" She looked questioning at the woman.

"Oh, sorry, I'm Suzie!" she said.

"Hi, Suzie, nice to meet you!" Kate said.

"I…" Suzie looked down. "I'm not sure if you…. Well, if you do things like this, but… um… would you maybe like to come to my class and teach them some self defense moves?"

"Your class?"

"Yeah." Suzie smiled. "I'm a high school teacher and since it is kind of in a bad neighborhood, I've always wanted to teach my girls a bit self defense. The school has no money, though, but I thought I'd just ask you… You don't have to, if you don't want to!"

Kate looked at Castle who grinned. "I'd love to do it," she said to Suzie.

"Really?" The young woman said in surprise, a large smile on her face.

"Yes, really." Kate took out a piece of paper and wrote down her number. "Here's my number. You settle a date and call me."

Suzie took the piece of paper. "Wow, thank you…" she looked at her writing and added, "Kate."

"Um, excuse me, but do you think I could come too?" Castle suddenly asked and Kate rolled her eyes, he really was just like a kid.

Suzie looked surprised but nodded. "If Kate is okay with it, of course."

Kate grinned. "Oh, sure! I need someone for demonstrating, right?" Castle gulped and both of the woman laughed at the look of fear on the writers face.

"Sorry, but could we go now? I left my jacket inside and it's getting kind of cold!" Josh interrupted them, clearly annoyed.

"Alright, you sissy, let's go!" Kate said goodbye to Suzie and walked away with Josh. Suddenly, she realized that Castle wasn't at her side and she turned around. The street was empty. Before she could think more about it, he appeared at the door of the Old Haunt, holding a jacket.

"I almost thought you'd want to stay here," Kate said as he reached her and Josh.

"And miss the guy who was hitting on my girlfriend being put behind bars? No way!" Castle said and handed Josh the jacket. "Here, so you don't have to complain again." He reached Kate's car before her and waited at the drive's side for them.

"Castle, that's not going to work! I'm driving!" Kate said as she pushed Josh onto her back seat, glaring at Castle so that he would move. The writer simply pouted but got the impression and slid into the passenger seat. "One day, you'll have to let me drive."

Kate laughed. "Only in your dreams, Castle."

"Well, in my dreams, no one's driving in this car…"

"Castle!"

He smiled at her. "I love you."

Kate sighed and rolled her eyes, even if it did feel damn good to hear him say it. "I know."

Josh groaned in the back seat. This was going to be a long ride.

* * *

**So this is it. It's the end of my story - I hope you like the ending... Just as I liked Demming, I disliked Josh so I thought he should appear in my story as the douche I think he is...**

**I thank you all for reviewing, favoriting, following and of course reading my story, it's always awesome to know that people like your story! Biggest thanks of course to fashiongirl97, I loved having you as my beta!**

**So now my time will be spent on the Castle ficathon, stay tuned for a truly awesome story (at least I hope people will think it's awesome!)...**

**I still need a beta for it, so everyone who is willing to do it, please message me! There will be spoilers for all aired episodes, just to warn you, and I'd also need you to make me write faster (because I think that's what I need, someone who spams me and guilts me into writing!)... If you're still interested, I'm here and waiting for you!**

**Love**

**K xx**


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